


Laurels Lately Given

by iulia_linnea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-16
Updated: 2012-11-16
Packaged: 2017-11-18 19:37:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/564536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iulia_linnea/pseuds/iulia_linnea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Minerva finds a source of unexpected warmth at Severus' tomb.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bethbethbeth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethbethbeth/gifts).



> Written on 12 August 2008 in response to [bethbethbeth](http://bethbethbeth.livejournal.com/profile)'s prompt of _Snape/Minerva: rain, remembrance, and reconciliation_.

Minerva had been there when they'd recovered Severus' body; she'd hexed an Auror for attempting to defile him.

 _It, the body_ , she tried to tell herself, but it didn't work; her remembrance of everything was far too clear. _Him, Severus—you secretive, stupid, sullen boy_!

That didn't work, either. He'd been a man when he'd left her, and old enough to know what he was doing.

 _He didn't trust me_.

She thought this as she placed the laurel wreath on his tomb. No one deserved it more, and Severus would never have understood the gift of flowers.

 _I was too quick to judge. I was too quick to fall in . . . ._ "No matter," she whispered, rising and circling the monument to the seeming chastisement of the rain.

Cold stone gleaming in the moonlight, that's all it was, and nothing like what it should have been. People's ingratitude had made Harry so angry.

 _He, at least, has someone to warm his heart now, someone to forgive him_.

Ginny wouldn't break Harry, not the way she'd broken Severus with her condemning looks and accusative tone. . . . Of course, she'd had no way of knowing.

 _I should have known_.

Cold stone and no chance of a reconciliation—why had she come? And how had he stood it? How had he hardened his heart against past love and present ease and flung himself, utterly alone, into a mission from which he'd never expected to return?

Her hand caressed the marble, and she sighed at Severus' strength, her head bowed. "I'm so sorry."

Long cool fingers slid over hers then, and Minerva's heart stopped, briefly, before pounding wildly within her breast—but she didn't look up. She couldn't do that to herself. She knew that Severus would never return to her, a shade; that simply wasn't his way.

 _Damn him_.

The storm grew worse; the stone remained cool against her palm, but slowly, the hand covering her own began to warm. It wasn't until she heard the words, however, _his_ words, that she was able to believe.

"Laurel? Really, Minerva, it wasn't a race I was running."


	2. Alternate Ending

For half a second, she thought she might hex him; this was time enough for Severus to peel her hand from his tomb and pull her close.

Shocked by the contact, she reached out to touch his hair with her free hand. "So much silver now."

Severus grimaced. "Perhaps we could continue with this maudlin examination after a pot of tea?"

"You . . . you don't _deserve_ tea, you—" 

His kisses were still as soft as she remembered.

"Tea, bath, you—these things I will have, whether I deserve them or not," Severus murmured, his lips still close enough to hers to taste. 

Minerva drew herself up, favouring him with a dignified scowl. "I . . . I could _slap_ you!"

"Save your anger for bed. I know I deserve it."

Cold stone or no, Minerva elected to show Severus exactly what he deserved.

It wasn't until after they'd watched his tomb crumble into dust that they achieved tea.


End file.
